How can a man who claims that \u201cevery normal person rejects violence,\u201d even founding an anti-violence movement, one day resort to pulling out a gun and shooting the prime minister of his country? How can an individual who advocates for uniting people, maintaining peace, and restoring democracy commit such an undemocratic act? He shot the prime minister, he says, because he disagreed with his views.
\n\u201cPeople seem to be going crazy,\u201d he once stated in a video he posted eight years ago. And perhaps he, too, went crazy. No one has the right to take another\u2019s life, no matter how much they disagree with the views expressed or promoted (if they are in a position to promote, as a leader is).
\nSlovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico fell victim to the hatred he himself cultivated by exacerbating social divides and extreme polarisation in his country.
\nStarting from the left, he ended up on the far right. A former human rights lawyer, he represented his country at the European Court of Justice from 1994 to 2000, but as a politician, he characterised homosexuality as a perversion and expressed extreme positions against the Roma and Hungarians, stating that they \u201cshould raze Budapest with tanks.\u201d
\nUntil that is, Orb\u00e1n rose to power in Hungary, and as ideological comrades, they became close friends, with tanks now being more useful against Ukraine.
\nRobert Fico has led Slovakia for the fourth time in the past few months. He was forced to resign in 2018 following the murder of a journalist and his partner, and he has been repeatedly accused of corruption. However, with the pandemic, he regained supporters and influence by heading protests against pandemic measures and vaccines. These demonstrations became increasingly chaotic and violent, with Fico inciting angry crowds.
\nIn his six months in power, he abolished the Special Prosecutor\u2019s Office, which had been established 20 years ago to investigate serious crimes, including the journalist\u2019s murder, which had led to the termination of his previous term. Another \u201cachievement\u201d of his is the closure (in June) of the national radio and television station \u201cfor criticising government policy.\u201d
\nNo one can rejoice in the attempted assassination of a human being, let alone a prime minister. We can only worry.
\nPopulist leaders, exploiting the times, foment hatred that divides societies. And citizens, steeped in this hatred, resort to arms.
\nWe need to find our footing again in democracy.Polarization. violence, prime minister, democracy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A man who once advocated against violence shot the prime minister of his country because he disagreed with his views. The prime minister, Robert Fico, had fueled social divides and extremism in Slovakia, moving from left to far right. Despite accusations of corruption and forced resignation in 2018, Fico regained support during the pandemic by leading protests against pandemic measures and vaccines. His actions led to chaotic and violent demonstrations, ultimately resulting in an attempted assassination. This incident highlights the dangers of populist leaders who sow hatred and division in societies, emphasizing the need to uphold democracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":12180,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"Default","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[3503,10341,8569,4073,295,932,3635,1810,5752,1840,1937,575,7716,415,985,10342,115,3410,910,582,3940,1394,183,4593,634,5175,4834,4833,1004,1792,9686,577,2065,1812,223,7608,6928,10151,1358,17,730,2389,134,6305],"class_list":["post-12179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other","tag-arms","tag-assasination","tag-citizens","tag-closure","tag-corruption","tag-court","tag-crimes","tag-democracy","tag-demonstrations","tag-european-court","tag-extremism","tag-far-right","tag-friends","tag-government","tag-gun","tag-hate","tag-human-rights","tag-hungary","tag-journalist","tag-justice","tag-leaders","tag-man","tag-murder","tag-office","tag-opinion","tag-pandemic","tag-peace","tag-policy","tag-power","tag-prime-minister","tag-prosecutor","tag-protests","tag-resignation","tag-rights","tag-shooting","tag-shot","tag-six","tag-slovakia","tag-support","tag-ukraine","tag-vaccines","tag-video","tag-violence","tag-who"],"acf":{"keyphrase":"","keywords":"","sourceimg":"","country-category":""},"yoast_head":"\n